I have the attention span of a goldfish. Yesterday, I watched every single nominated video from the VMAs…Or at least I tried. I spent about twenty seconds on “Blurred Lines” before promptly moving on, and even less time for Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop.” I moved from video to video watching, at most, half before losing interest. That is, until I stumbled upon Imagine Dragon’s “Radioactive.” I watched the whole thing. In a bizarre mix of stuffed animals, the Bible, and superpowers, “Radioactive” sure did catch my attention, and kept it. This, I believe, is the purpose of all music videos: catch the attention, keep the attention. This way, the audience, which in this case happens to be mostly teenagers, watches the whole video, hears the whole song, and in the end, buys the song.
Teens like uniqueness, they (I) want to see something different. So, in an age of videos featuring mostly naked women, drugs, or parties, “Radioactive” stands out. On top of that, it’s not every day that people see stuffed animals brawling in an arena. At my first glimpse of that purple monster, I was hooked; I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. When the monster tore up all the cute little teddy bears I got really upset (as part of the build-a-bear generation, teddy bears are close to my heart). By playing with the audience’s emotions, “Radioactive” makes sure that the people watching stay captivated. Imagine Dragons next ensnares us with a simple story, one that we all know: David and Goliath…Or at least some strange version of it. The big, powerful Goliath is unbeatable in battle. The scrawny, underestimated, David faces him and beats the crap out of him (that may not be the exact way the Bible phrases it). Goliath comes to us in the form of the purple monster, and David in the tiny pink teddy bear who uses radioactive superpowers to beat the champion. At the sight of that teddy bear rising up, I felt tears of joy spring up in my eyes (not really, but it did make me happy). “Radioactive” alludes to a story that everyone knows, with a happy ending, to get people to buy their song. It all comes down to buying the song. The artists target an audience of typically depressed and stressed teenagers. By creating a happy, fulfilling ending, the Imagine Dragons hope to give their audience a brief moment of exultation and a temporary cure to their depression and stress, which in turn, will make them want to buy "Radioactive". I can honestly say that now, every time I hear the song, I remember that little pink bear pulverizing the bad guy.
I will try using a different style for the next free write, but for this prompt, I wrote with my usual one.
ReplyDeleteNo, your style definitely works. Don't get me wrong. I like it. I just want you to challenge yourself to write in other ways.
ReplyDeleteThis post is interesting. It starts with an interesting statement, one I think I agree with: "the purpose of all music videos: catch the attention, keep the attention." You link this purpose with the ultimate goal of generating sales. I guess I had never, before this year, realized the actual purpose of the video - to get people to buy the song. This probably has always been the case. I understand and agree with Will and Julia's comments about shameless self-promotion. Some videos are more guilty of this than others. But at their core, all videos are about generating revenue. I appreciate that you made this broad statement.
I struggle a bit with your analysis. I think you are right about everything in your second paragraph, except the opening line. You claim that teenagers want to see "something different." This may be true, but if this were truly the case, then there wouldn't be so much sex, drugs, and violence. Right? Do you contradict yourself a bit?
One last word of caution. When you write rhetorical analyses, you want to focus more on the "speaker's" purpose than the audience's reaction. Your analysis paragraph, the second one, deals a lot with your reaction, and your assumption about how others react. In future responses, please focus more on intent. All we can presume about the "audience" is their identity. We cannot and should not assume its reaction.